The 48th G7 summit will take place from June 26th to 28th, 2022 in Schloss Elmau, a five-star hotel above the village of Klais in the Wetterstein mountains. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the host. Numerous demos are planned around the summit. FOCUS Online reports in the Newsticker.
3:55 p.m .: At the beginning of the G7 summit in Bavaria, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the current accumulation of global crises. “All G7 countries are concerned about the crises we are currently dealing with,” said Scholz on Sunday after the first working session of the summit at Schloss Elmau.
“Declining growth rates, rising inflation, supply chain disruptions – none of these are small challenges,” he said. However, the G7 group is the right format “to develop common answers to the challenges of the time”.
The G7 group sees itself as a community of values - especially when it comes to dealing with Russia, said the Chancellor. “We are united by our view of the world, by our belief in democracy and the rule of law.”
After the attack on Ukraine, Russia must continue to count on the “determination and unity” of the group of seven major Western economic powers, said the Chancellor. “It is safe to say that Putin did not expect this and that this continues to give him a headache: the great international support for Ukraine and the bravery of Ukrainians in defending the country.”
3.45 p.m .: The demo train of around 800 demonstrators has reached downtown Garmisch. Occasionally pyro smoke candles were ignited. Around 100 demonstrators from the “Black Block”, which is known for its propensity to use violence, are accompanied by a continuous cordon of police officers in full gear. The district office had originally expected 3,000 participants.
2:56 p.m .: (FOCUS Online reporter Ulf Lüdeke in Garmisch): The official “Stop G7” protest demo began in Garmisch-Partenkirchen early on Sunday afternoon. The demo train is much smaller than many had expected and currently consists of a few hundred participants, including a few dozen people from the “Black Block”.
Some participants were disappointed with the small number of participants. “It’s a pity that there is so little support from the population,” said a young demonstrator who traveled from Munich. “I think that’s mainly because many people are unsure about their attitude to the Ukraine war,” said the young woman to FOCUS Online. And from her point of view, the strong police presence also contributed to the fact that many demonstrators and supporters were deterred. The demo train is to lead across the city center of Garmisch and end at 7 p.m. A total of 18,000 police officers are on duty in the region for the summit.
1:22 p.m .: The US proposals for enforcing a price cap for Russian oil are not yet one hundred percent convincing from the EU’s point of view. “We want to go into more detail. We want fine-tuning,” said EU Council President Charles Michel on Sunday, shortly before discussions on the subject at the G7 summit in Elmau. The aim is to ensure that all 27 EU countries can support such a project.
According to Michel, among other things, a clear idea of the direct effects and possible side effects of the planned mechanism for a price cap is needed. Accordingly, it must be clear that this really affects Russia and not only ensures that the situation for the EU becomes even more difficult and complex. Asked if there could be an agreement at the G7 meeting, Michel said: “I’m cautious.”
The US proposal envisages forcing Russia to sell oil to large buyers such as India at a significantly lower price in the future. This could work by the West tying services such as insurance for oil shipments to compliance with the price cap. On the one hand, the upper limit is intended to ensure that Russia no longer benefits from price increases on the energy market. On the other hand, it should contribute to a relaxation on the oil markets worldwide. Not only in the EU, but also in the USA, the high fuel prices are currently a big issue.
12.56 p.m .: After Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his wife Britta Ernst welcomed the international guests to Schloss Elmau, the exchange is now ongoing: on the first day of the summit, the global economic situation, climate protection and foreign and security policy with the sanctions advised against Russia.
While their partners are meeting, there is a partner program for Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French President, Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie, Amélie Derbaudrenghien, the wife of EU Council President Charles Michel, and hostess Britta Ernst, all about the summit at Schloss Elmau. The following activities are on the agenda: Nordic walking with the ski stars Christian Neureuther and his daughter-in-law Miriam, talks with researchers from Germany’s highest environmental research station in the Schneefernerhaus and a meeting with a master violin maker from Mittenwald.
12:19 p.m .: After the G7 demonstration in Munich, four participants were still held on Sunday morning. A judge should decide later today whether they should be held in custody, a police spokesman said. The investigators accuse the four activists of assaulting police officers with dangerous bodily harm.
The background is clashes between demonstrators and police officers at the rally on Saturday through Munich. The police are investigating a total of six activists for violence against those in uniform.
11:00 a.m .: Before the G7 meeting in Bavaria, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden vowed to unite the West in the face of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “And the good news is that we all managed to stay united, which of course Putin didn’t expect,” Scholz said at a bilateral meeting with Biden on Sunday at Schloss Elmau. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not expect this unity.
Biden emphasized that this unity was in no small part also due to Scholz. “You did an incredible job,” Biden said. “I want to thank you for that.” The US President also emphasized: “We have to stay together.” Putin expected that the G7 and NATO would be split. That has not happened and will not happen. Biden emphasized that Germany is one of the United States’ closest allies.
After the meeting, the White House announced that Biden had welcomed Germany’s “historic commitment” to significantly increase defense spending at the bilateral talks. Biden and Scholz underlined that they would continue to provide military, economic, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Ukraine. Another topic was how the effects of the war in Ukraine on global food and energy security could be mitigated. The challenges emanating from China were also discussed.
8:48 a.m .: According to US President Joe Biden, the G7 countries want to announce an import ban on Russian gold at their summit in Bavaria. Biden said on Twitter on Sunday that Russia would lose tens of billions of dollars in revenue from this important export commodity. Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, the G7 countries have imposed tough sanctions on Moscow.
Biden wrote: “The United States has imposed unprecedented costs on Putin to deprive him of the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine.” would officially announce the import ban on Tuesday, the last day of the summit at Schloss Elmau. “This will further isolate Russia from the world economy.” Gold is Russia’s second most important export after energy.
Further steps are to be expected in the future “which should continuously increase the pressure on Putin and Russia,” said the government representative. “I think that the collective efforts of the G7 in terms of sanctions, export controls and other measures against Russia are having a dramatic effect on the Russian economy.” The Russian economy is expected to shrink significantly this year. “These dramatic changes are due to the actions taken collectively by the G7.”
Sunday, June 26, 2022, 8:43 a.m .: The arrival of the heads of state and government at the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen has so far been without incident. The police reported on Sunday morning that there were initially no disruptive actions and blockades by opponents.
Officials stood along the so-called protocol route across Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday morning. Local roads are closed when the heads of state convoys pass. There are fences along the protocol route in the Garmisch area, and tens of thousands of manhole covers have been sealed to protect the vehicles from attacks.
US President Joe Biden arrived on Saturday evening for his first visit to Germany since taking office. Air Force One with the President on board landed in Munich late in the evening. The US President then traveled on to Elmau by helicopter and car – the protocol route was closed to other traffic around midnight for his arrival. In some cases, pedestrians were not allowed to cross the street.
The focus of the top meetings of the G7 and NATO will be the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences. The meeting lasts until Tuesday.
You can read more about the G7 summit in Elmau on the following pages.
